Vehicle-box.



No. smal; v Bauma 1an. 2|, 1902; L. PRIEST..v f

veulcLE'sox. v

(Appumion and ot. 1e, 1900. A Renewed me, xs, 1so1'.)' (Np Modell.) SSheQts-Sheat Ll j W1 NEssEs- INVENIR 5. -Bll ua/62:

' Attorneys.

' No. 69mm. Patent'e d1an.2l, |902."

L. PmEsI.

. VEHICLE BCIX.

,I (Application illd Oct. 18, 1900. Renewed Dec. 5, 1901.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

gy y i' l nvm/70B' j# BY Gba/h' y I Attorneys.-

No. 691,661. Patented lan. 2l, |962. I L. PR|EsT.

v'EHlcLE Box.; (Applicsftion led Ot. 18, 190D. Renewed Dee. IS,l 1901.-) (No Model.) Y v3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

Attorneys.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.r

LOUIS PRIEST, OF FLINT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR 'IO TRUMAN WV.; VHITNEY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, AND CHARLES N. MORSE, OF FLINT, MICHIGAN.

VEHICLE-Box.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 691,661, dated January 21, 1902.

Application led October 18, 1900. Renewed December 5, 1901. Serial No. 84,787. (N0 model.) i

To a/ZZ whom t may concern: v

Be it known that I, LOUIS PRIEST, a citizen of the United States, residing at Flint, county of Genesee, State of Michigan, have invented a cert-ain new and useful Improvement in Vehicle-Boxes; and Ideclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ot' the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference -being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specilication.

This invention relates to vehicleboxes, and has for its object an improved construction of'box to be employed with a light wagon or buggy in which the timbers employed in constructing the box are secured together without the use of nails or bolts, but by means of dovetailed locking-blocks or binding-blocks so arranged that the several parts when put together in order are held and are finally bound together by the insertion of one or more key-blocksv that retain all the parts in position so long as the key-blocks themselves remain in position. In connection with the essential parts I also use corner binding-pieces which may be inserted either before or after the nal binding key-blocks are inserted and which are used because the timbers ordinarily employed in structures of this kind do not retain the exact shape and form to which they are originally cut unless they are held from warping Vand twisting away from such form. The corner-blocks referred to are practically useful, but would not be necessary except for the unstable character of the material.

The buggy orwagon box is made of a bottom frame of four pieces, inclosing boards of four pieces, two side boards, and two end boards, a seat-support, preferably constructed o'f eight pieces, and the corner-binders hereinbefore referred to, which are generally twelve in number.

In connection with the box there is a seat constructed on the same principle and which is not made to be connected by bindingblocks or key-blocks to the seat-support, but is adapted to be secured thereto by bolts. The seat itself is constructed, like the box,

.of a bottom frame, a back, and two ends or arm-rests at the ends, bound together by tieblocksin substantially the same way as the vehicle-box.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the vehicle-box and seat-support. Fig. 2 is a perspective ot' a sideand end of the seat-support. Fig. 3 is a perspective of the bottom and one side of the box and of the seat-support properly located with respect to the side and bottom. Fig. 4 isfa detail of a corner of the bottom frame. Fig. 5 is a perspective of the key-block. Fig. 6 is an elevation of one side ot the vehicle-box, Fig. 7 is a perspective of the seat. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the seat and the seat-bottom. p spective of an end or armrest of the seat.

In Figs. l, 2, 3, and 6 the parts are shown as though they were broken, this system being adopted because in an actual vehicle-box the side boards and timbers would be from four to eight feet long, while the thickness of .the timbers employed would some of them be half an inch and others an inch and a half, and the attempt to preserve the proper proportions would make some parts of the drawingso small that it would be difficult to understand it, and it is necessary either to show the parts as broken in the way suggested or to consider them as entirely out of their true proportion.

The bottom of the box consists of four pieces 2, 2221], and 2c. These are joined at their cor- Yners by blind mortise-and-tenon joints 2d and 2P'. Each of the side pieces 2 and 2b is provided with a tongue 2f, and each side piece 3 of the box is provided with a groove 3f. The side nieces 3 and 3b and the end pieces 3 and d of the box are provided with blind Each side piece of the bottom frame A which the end of a dovetailed block 6 may be engaged and dropped through the mouth 5b into the mortise 5a. Each side board of the box has a similar dovetailed mortise 7, with IOO a mortise-mouth 7 below it. The upper ends of the posts 5 are mortised into a frame of four pieces, and these four pieces are also joined at their corners by blind mortise-joints. At each corner of the bottom frame of the box and of the seatframe are triangular blocks 9, with dovetailed tongues that engage in dovetailed mortises in the timbers and serve to unite the corners firmly together. On the under side of the frame, intermediate the ends of each side piece, is a pair of mortises 2g, which receive the blocks, and corresponding mortises 2h are formed in each side piece 0f the box. A similar mortise 2k is formed in the top side of the side piece and in the top of the seat-frame and another one in the bottom of the seat-frame.

The entire box is assembled by setting up the seat-frame and the bottom frame, slipping the block G into pla-ce in the seat-frame, forcing the side pieces 3 and 3l into place, with the tongue 2f engagingin the groove and with the blocks 6 engaging in the mortises, and these pieces are then tied together by driving the blocks 2g into place from below. The end blocks 3c and 3d are forced into place and the corner fillet-blocks 9 of the entire structure properly inserted and the blocks (ib inserted to bind the top of the seat-support and the side of the box together. i

The seat is built up substantially the saine way with a bottom frame 10 10 10b 10c, the two end pieces and the back of this frame being provided with mortises or grooves 1l, into which are slipped dovetailed tenons, which terminate blocks 12. Preferably the blocks 12 extend entirely across the board from which the tenons project and serve as strengthening-ribs to prevent the warping and splitting of vthe board.

After the back and two side pieces have been putin place they are secured by corner tie-fillets 18, and the seat-bottom is also secured and strengthened by corner-fillets 14. The seat itself is secured to the seat-support by bolts or screws.

This entire structure may be prepared for assembly at the factory, shipped iu the knockdown condition, and assembled when it reaches its destination.

l. In a vehicle-body, the combination ot' a side piece of the frame provided with a mortise extending inward from its upper outer edge, a seat-post having a mortise-block formed on its lower end, said block being adapted to slide laterally into said mortise, and a side piece of the box arranged to be secured to said side piece of the frame and to prevent said seat-post from being withdrawn from the mortise substantially as described.

2. In a vehicle-body, the combination of a side piece of the frame having a laterally-extending lug, and provided with a mortise extending inward from its upper outer edge, a seat-post having a mortise-block formed at its lower end, said block being adapted to slide laterally into said mortise, said seatpost having a mortise for-med therein and a side piece of the box provided with a groove adapted to engage said lug, and a mortise formed in said side piece of the box, a mor- Lise-block adapted to enter said mortises in the seat-post and side pieces of the box to bind the same together, and means for securing said side pieces together to prevent relative lateral movement, substantially as described.

3. In a vehicle-body, the combination of a side piece of the frame havinga laterally-extending tongue 2f, and a mortise extending inward from its lower outer edge, a seat-post rising from said side piece, a side piece of the seat-frame secured at the top of said sea-tpost, and provided with a mortise extending inward from its upper outer edge, a side piece of the box having a groove adapted to engage the tongue upon the side piece of the frame, a mortise adjacent to the mortise in the side piece of the frame, and a second mortise adjacent to the mortise in the side piece of the seat-frame, a mortise-block adapted to enter the mortises in the side pieces of the frame and box and a second mortise-block adapt-ed to enter the mortises in the side pieces of the seat-frame and vehicle-box, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

LOUIS PRIEST.

Witnesses:

HANNAH SMITH, lIYsLor GILLIES. 

